Leave it to NBC entertainment head Ben Silverman to turn a viewer protest into a sponsorship opportunity.

When fans tried to save on-the-bubble adventure comedy Chuck by buying Subway sandwiches on a certain day -- the sandwich chain was featured in an episode -- Silverman responded by forging a special advertising relationship that helped the network renew the show for next season.

This should come as welcome news to the legions of TV geeks and critics who championed the show weeks ago, begging NBC via online petitions, blogs and columns not to drop a show that has faltered in the ratings against Fox's House and ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

NBC has taken advantage of the new 10 p.m. Jay Leno Show to offer a schedule with original programming throughout the year, featuring eight new series. Besides Chuck, veteran crime drama Law & Order returns for a 20th season, pushed back to Fridays.

I'm sure we'll hear lots more from NBC about the method to their madness during the executive conference call, starting in two minutes.

About the blog

The Feed is your source for television news, reviews and commentary. A group of Tampa Bay Times writers will blog about everything from their current TV obsessions to the changing TV/media landscape (binge-watching galore!). Let's all geek out over our favorite shows together.

As a wee TV fanatic, Times pop music critic Sean Daly first learned to tell time via Lee Majors classic "The Six Million Dollar Man." On family trips, instead of asking "Are we there yet?" he would inquire of his parents: "How many more Six's?" Thus, the concept of an hour. Adorable, right? Not nearly as cute: An adult Sean wears a Tigers hat not to support Detroit but because Tom Selleck wore one on "Magnum, P.I." It's sad really.

Michelle Stark is a Times writer, editor, designer and unabashed TV nerd. Her millennial TV-watching habits rely on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon instead of traditional cable, but she never misses her favorite shows, which include everything from Girls, Parenthood and New Girl to high-minded dramas like Mad Men and Homeland. She never met a reality dance show competition she didn’t like.

Sharon Kennedy Wynne is a Times writer and editor part of that first generation of toddlers raised on Sesame Street. Her TV tastes are eclectic. She's still a big fan of Sesame Street, but also darker fare like American Horror Story and Scandal. As our resident reality TV fan (though she's ashamed to admit it), she has complex theories on Survivor, Amazing Race and Big Brother strategies.